Post Office Schemes For Boy Child : What options are available ?

GoI has been on the forefront of giving schemes for the Girl Child in India. Are there any post office saving schemes for the boy child in India. I was looking at Ponmagan Podhuvaippu Nidhi Scheme but it seems that the scheme is available only in Tamil Nadu Post Office.

Can someone guide on various investment schemes available in India for the future of Boy Child in India ?

Yes you are right in saying that there are not many dedicated schemes for saving for boy child in India. Post offices in Tamil Nadu offer a scheme called as Ponmagan Podhuvaippu Nidhi scheme for Boy child. Apart from that, you have to save for your boy child using the combination of existing saving and other schemes. The features are almost similar to Center Govt's Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. Here are some salient features for Ponmagan Podhuvaippu Nidhi scheme for Boy Child:

The account can be opened before the Boy child attains the age of 10 years.

Max amount that can be deposited per year is 1.5Lac rupees. Maximum number of installments per year is 12.

The amount deposited can be claimed for tax benefits under section 80C of income tax.

You can pledge the amount to avail the loan in the scheme after you have operated the account for atleast 4 years

As you can see Tamil nadu Govt has thought quite something for the boy child. The scheme however is not available in any other post office in other state across India.

Apart from that if you have to save for your boy child, you have to save using many other small saving schemes available in India for long term. Some of them are :

National Saving Certificates

Kisan Vikas Patra

Post Office Monthly Income Scheme(MIS)

Mutual Funds (subject to your risk appetite)

Public Provident Fund (PPF)

National Pension Scheme (NPS)

Each of them have their own pros and cons and their own way to manage funds. I suggest to study each of them and invest as per your requirements and need.

Hi, I think it's the same as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (another name as used in TN). A small savings scheme to encourage people to save and invest their surplus money to earn adequate returns.
Sukanya Samridhii Yojana: Few points to Know
The parents can open Selvamagal Semippu Thittam account in the name of girl child upto age of 10 years.
The maximum amount that can be deposited in this account is Rs.1.5 lakhs only.
The interest rate is 8.5% and that is revised from time to time.
The initial deposit amount has also been reduced from Rs.1000 to Rs.250 only.
A tax deduction u/s 80 C is also available.
What do you think about this savings scheme? Any feedback on it.

Post office department has been the pillar of small savings in India. With a total investment base of about 6 lac crores, they are one of the biggest deposit mobilizers in Indian banking sector. While traditionally Post office schemes enjoyed huge popularity due to round the corner presence , local trust and the fact that they offered slightly higher returns than similar schemes from banks but they have not at all kept pace with improvements in banking services and customer facilities. Here are 5 reasons why I do not recommend investing in post office schemes
Non-Core Banking Service
Most of the post offices are still not on Core banking platform as a result whatever investments or savings you park with them stay with the local branch. For any changes, pre-mature withdrawals etc you need to go the branch where you opened the account or made the investments
Non-Digitization of Documents
NSC ( national saving certificates or KVP ( Kisan visas patra) etc all these investment documents are given in the physical form. In the case of theft or damage or lost of the physical document, Its not very easy getting records updated and in general who keeps all these physical documents.
Reducing Interest rates advantage
One of the traditional advantages of Post office schemes was they enjoyed higher spread and hence interest rates were 50 bps to 100 bps more than similar products from banks that gap has come down now
Unfriendly Staff
Post office staff is not the most friendly staff you will encounter around certainly something which needs massive makeover
Competitive advantage of schemes no longer exists
In my parents time there were limited financial products and as a result, some of the post office schemes were very popular for example if you wanted to save taxes Kisan Vikas Patra or the NSC were most important schemes .Now there are many more options available in the market both on debt and equity side. Also with increased distribution power of banks, they are distributing mutual funds and lot of other products as a result post office schemes no longer remain very attractive.

There are a number of Government Saving schemes and policies in India to benefit the investors.
Such saving and investment schemes provided by Government of India enable general public to start investing and gain profits. These are average return schemes with a low to no risk policy.
The benefits of investing under these saving schemes is that along with investment, an individual can claim tax exemption benefit under Section 80C up to Rs.1.5 Lac of The Income Tax Act.
So, you get a combination of: Investment + Tax benefits
Best Government Saving Schemes in India:
Let me take you through a 3 most popular investment schemes in India:
1. Public Provident Fund (PPF):
Similar to Employee provident Fund, PPF is an investment scheme launched by the provident Fund department (EPFO). The average return for last 5 years under this scheme is 7-8%. The current PPF interest rate for quarter beginning Apr'19 is 8% p.a. The lock-in period is 15 years and this a a fairly long term investment scheme.
2. National Pension Scheme (NPS):
This is an initiative taken by government to provide a pension support to individual on retirement. These is a long term investment and can be withdrawn only at the age of 60 yrs.
3. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY):
SSY was introduced to promote and encourage welfare of the girl child. SSY account can only be opened by a legal guardian of the girl child whose age is less than 10 years. The account has tenure of 21 years and can be opened with as low as Rs. 1000. The average return over the period is 7-8%.
So, these are the most preferred Govt. saving schemes in India, as per my knowledge. Do you have any other saving or investment schemes in India that need to be listed here? Feel free to add details on the same.

@Harleen PPF is a very very popular investment scheme in India. And, whenever I hear someone talking about PPF, I learn that many people have an SBI PPF account. I feel opening a PPF account in SBI seems to be a favourite of investors. While there are various other banks and post offices also offering PPF account opening facility.
Is there any specific reason for going with SBI PPF account? or Is it just a matter of choice? Any idea on it!

If both the parents are utilising their full yearly PPF limit. Can the HUF contribute to Minor Child's PPF? Considering one of the parents PAN is in the PPF of Minor, will the HUF contribution be added to the max. PPF of parent's limit?

@shreem I have a bit idea that if you open your own PPF account and also on behalf of minor child then the combined limit shall be maximum Rs.1.5 lakhs only. So, Total deposit i.e. For self+minor should not exceed Rs.1.5 lakhs a year.
But, since you are thinking to contribute from HUF to minor account, so rules might vary for that. You need to check with the respective bank regarding that.

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